Proposed Cooperative Institute for Earth System Research and Data Science

Background
The NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) is inviting applications for the establishment of a Cooperative Institute (CI) to assist NOAA in fulfilling NOAA’s Next Generation Strategic Plan vision of “Healthy ecosystems, communities, and economies that are resilient in the face of change.” The CI’s research will leverage its expertise in climate processing and modeling, atmospheric processes, geophysics, advanced information systems, earth system modeling, and space weather to expand our understanding of the entire earth system. The proposed CI supports NOAA mission science by developing and applying satellite systems, ships, buoys, aircraft, research facilities, high-performance computing, and information management and distribution systems. In addition, the proposed CI will partner with NOAA in the pursuit of innovative research-to-application capabilities that recognize and apply significant new understanding.

Grant Details
The CI’s research themes are (1) Future Atmosphere; (2) Climate Science and Prediction; (3) Earth System Data Science, Stewardship, and Application; (4) Regional Science and Applications; (5) Scientific Outreach, Education and Diversity; (6) Space Weather Science and Prediction; (7) Weather Research and Forecasting; and (8) Ecosystem Science and Prediction.

The CI may consist of one or more academic or non-profit institutions that possess an outstanding research program in areas related to NOAA’s mission. The CI is encouraged to work with supporting research affiliates including other governmental agencies, private industry partners, Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), NOAA laboratories, science and data centers, other CIs, Cooperative Science Centers (CSCs), and Sea Grant Colleges.

Eligibility Requirements
Eligibility is limited to non-Federal public and private non-profit universities, colleges, and research institutions that offer accredited graduate-level degree-granting programs in NOAA-related sciences.

Period of Performance
The award period will be 5 years with a possibility of renewal for up to an additional 5 years based on performance review. The application deadline is 01/24/22 at 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Grant Value
NOAA anticipates up to $565.8M available for this CI. The actual annual funding may be less than anticipated depending on approved projects after the main CI award begins.